Made Us Look: Cube Robot

From the same country that brought us cellophane, muesli, and white chocolate (that’s Switzerland, in case you weren’t sure), comes Cubli, a robotic cube developed by The Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control with the ability to walk, jump, and balance on its corner, and we’re geeking out over it.

The machine works on a set of spinning wheels, similar to what’s used in orbiting satellites with the added consideration of gravity. Three internally rotating wheels spin along three axis at different speeds, and it all adds up to is three awesome movements: (1) Controlling the fall of the cube to produce a walking action. (2) Suddenly braking for a jumping movement. And (3), our favorite, the impressive ability to balance any of its corners.

Thanks to super smart sensors, the device is reactionary too, meaning if you try to push it down while it’s balancing, it will stay upright, you big bully, you.

It’s hard to understand the extent of all its awesomeness without a demonstration. Let’s cut to video.

Impressed yet? Well brainiacs around the world are. There are already talks to use the technology for planetary exploration. So get ready to suit up. You might be going to Mars for your future grandchild’s high school graduation.

What do you think about robotic cubism? Tell us what’s jumping through your mind by leaving a comment.

Alexis is the co-founder of Punkpost, the app that lets you send handwritten cards (yes, handwritten by a real human) in the amount of time it takes you to send a text message. The exclusive card collections are created by a community of artists and designers and hand letter pressed on high-quality cotton paper. Get the full experience by downloading the app from the iTunes Store.